Also, 74% said their retirement account has recovered from the financial crisis “about as fast” or “even faster” than expected.
And 55% of the savers in the Schwab survey said they hiked their savings rate in the past two years, while 70% said their 401(k) “is in better shape now than ever before.”
That’s a welcome trend, because many retirement savers are falling behind, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank.
The report, titled “Social Security is the Only Reason Most Americans Can Afford to Retire,” said that U.S. households in the middle-fifth percentile of income had $34,981 on average in retirement savings, in 2010.
That’s in stark contrast to the average $308,674 saved by households in the top fifth of incomes. Read more on the EPI website.
Want the bad news spelled out? Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute, in Washington, said: “Other than high-income households, who receive most of the federal subsidies for IRAs and 401(k)s, virtually no one has enough savings to generate substantial retirement income.”